Knowing the space with the vehicle behind when parallel parking

This is often difficult even for the best of parallel parkers.I am still working on how to know the distance I have with the vehicle I come in front of while parallel parking.

Below I will share a few tips that help me and hopefully will help you have a good idea of distance you have behind.

Do
remember every vehicle is different in how long the front and back ends
are. Get to know the length of the trunk and back bumper of your
vehicle. This will help you get an idea of space you have behind when parking.

Once in the stall, when
looking in your rear view mirror, as long as you can see the headlights
of the vehicle behind, you won't hit that vehicle.

*If
the vehicle behind you is a large truck, extra high off the ground
because of large tires, this tip doesn't apply because you can still see
the headlights no matter how close you get.

If you back up just to the point where the headlights disappear, you still have several feet before you would come in contact with the vehicle.

The top pictures show where you see the headlights and how much space it leaves.

The bottom pictures show the point where the headlights disappear and how much space it leaves.

The top picture is about half a car length, the bottom picture about a fourth of a car length.

The hard part is gauging how far back you can move AFTER the headlights disappear.You can also use your side mirrors. Though it's harder to tell your distance from your side mirrors.

Do remember the further to the outer edge of the side mirror you see the vehicle the closer you are to it.

With about three feet of space, you will probably see just a sliver of the vehicle in the inner part of the side mirror. Again, vehicles are different so get to know your own reference points.

For
about $50.00 you could install a sensor for the back of your vehicle,
aside from a rear view camera, that is going to be the best "space
detector" for parallel parking.